Capital A Berhad (Capital A) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications to explore establishing Bahrain as AirAsia’s Middle East hub, marking the beginning of a long-term partnership to build a major bridge between Asean and one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation regions.
The LOI sets out a comprehensive framework
for deeper aviation and economic cooperation between Capital A and Bahrain,
with a shared ambition to open new inroads between the Kingdom and the Asean
region. It outlines multi-faceted collaboration across future airline
operations, cargo and logistics, maintenance capabilities and talent
development.
Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, said:
“This partnership is a game-changer. With our aviation restructuring soon to be
complete, both Capital A and AirAsia are stepping into another bold and
disruptive chapter of global growth, and Bahrain will be a powerful launchpad for
us in the Middle East.
“AirAsia has been built on innovation, and
we continue to redefine the low-cost aviation model. We pioneered the
establishment of airlines beyond our home base in Malaysia, expanding
successfully into our Asean strongholds across Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines and Cambodia. Bahrain continues AirAsia’s innovative and pioneering
spirit of creating new models to carry on our mission of ‘Now Everyone Can
Fly’, and this is reflected in the areas we are exploring with this
partnership.”
“The future of travel is multi-hub,
seamless and borderless. By 2030, in addition to potentially operating a
Bahrain-based AOC, we expect to operate over 25 daily flights between Bahrain and
our Asean megahubs, carrying over 20 million passengers over the next five years.
There will be new flows of people, trade, talent and cargo, not just between major
capitals but into fast-growing secondary and emerging cities where real
economic expansion happens.”
Dr Shaikh Al Khalifa, Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications, Kingdom of Bahrain said, “The ambition of Bahrain to diversify the economy according to Economic Vision 2030 gets another boost from this partnership with Capital A and AirAsia. It reinforces Bahrain as a tourism and logistics hub in the Middle East, enhancing its position as a strategic connector linking Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the US. The partnership model opens opportunities for both leisure and business travellers. At the same time we create specialised jobs for our highly educated Bahraini workforce and give a further boost to the country’s GDP”
Under the LOI, AirAsia will explore
launching flights from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia to
Bahrain over the next five years, with onward connectivity to Europe and the US.
The Group will also evaluate the
establishment of a Bahrain-based AOC to operate narrowbody aircraft into key
cities in the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and Europe.
By 2030, AirAsia expects to operate more
than 25 daily flights via Bahrain, carrying over 20 million passengers over the
next five years and contributing an estimated BHD 3 billion ($8 billion) to
Bahrain’s economy.
This expansion is expected to support over
100,000 jobs across the aviation and services ecosystem.
A multi-year talent development programme will
train and employ Bahraini nationals across pilot, crew, engineering and ground roles,
with over 1,000 hires targeted in the first year to support Bahrain’s economic
advancement agenda.
Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), Capital A’s
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) arm, plans to establish a significant
presence in Bahrain by constructing a state-of-the art facility including
hangars and workshops which can service both narrow and wide body aircraft.
This facility will empower local Bahraini talent
through advanced training programmes for both Airbus and Boeing fleet, setting
a new benchmark for efficiency and aiming to deliver the fastest MRO turnaround
times in the region.
This will enable local and regional
airlines to maximise aircraft uptime and unlock additional revenue
opportunities. The establishment of this facility marks ADE’s commitment to
make Bahrain a true centre of engineering excellence in the Middle East.
Capital A’s logistics arm, Teleport, will
position Bahrain as the primary gateway to expand beyond Asia for the first
time, with plans to base dedicated freighters in the Kingdom to strengthen
connectivity for the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the CIS.
This strategic move will enable Teleport to
expand its international network, and facilitate greater e-commerce flows
between Asia, the Middle East and beyond. -TradeArabia News Service